-_-A Gulf Coast Turtle and Tortoise Society Care Sheet-_-
Agrionemys (formerly Testudo) horsfieldi. Also known as Horsfield's Tortoise, Afghan Tortoise, Steppe Tortoise, Central Asian Tortoise, Four Toed Tortoise.
Russian tortoises are found in Iran, Afganistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
The Russian Tortoise is native to very arid and cold regions (Southeastern Russia, southward through eastern Iran, northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan). It does not do well in hot, humid habitats. Captives must be maintained in a dry environment or they are prone to shell rot and respiratory infections.
Russian tortoises will often engage in combat between individuals. Remember that no matter how spacious your tortoise enclosure, it will be a very unnatural and crowded environment compared to the tortoise's native habitat. Be alert for agressive individuals and separate them immediately. See this article on Russian tortoise aggression for more information.
The main diet of the Russian should be almost any broad, leafy green. Feed them as much variety as possible, including prepackaged mixed greens, romaine or green leaf lettuce, escarole, turnip greens, collard greens, endive, kale, green bean husks, shredded carrots, cactus pads (remove the spines - they can be burned off over a gas stove burner), hibiscus flowers and leaves, dandelion, clover, sow thistle and common plantain (the herb Plantago major - not the plantain banana).
A calcium supplement is always recommended, sprinkled over food once a week or so.
Beans should be limited as they have too much protein. Beet greens, spinach and chard should be avoided as the oxalic acid will block the absorption of calcium. Don't offer too many high-moisture fruits and veggies. Cucumbers, radishes, celery should be kept to a minimum. Berries, apple and pears can be offered, but again on a limited basis. Too much fruit causes loose stools and intestinal problems.
High fiber with very little protein is the goal.
Petstores sometimes sell Russian Tortoises as easy to care for and able to be raised outdoors. Note that Russian Tortoises are very suseptible to respiratory infections and shell rot when housed outdoors in a humid climate, especially on cold, damp, winter days.
Reptiles are cold-blooded and either hibernate or slow down during the cold months. Care needs to be taken not to change their surrounding temperatures drastically, as moving them from the chilly outdoor temperatures into the comfortably warm indoor temperatures will stress their system and bring on possibly fatal illnesses. Outdoor pens should have plenty of soil and mulch (use cypress mulch, fallen leaves or compost as pine/cedar mulches have an irritating sap known to make mammals and reptiles ill) to fully cover the tortoise as he burrows to escape the cold.
The Gulf Coast Turtle and Tortoise Society is an all volunteer organization whose goals include:
For more information about the GCTTS or about the care of turtles and tortoises, email info@gctts.org, write us at GCTTS, 1227 Whitestone Ln, Houston, TX 77073, or visit our website http://www.GCTTS.Org.
GCTTS meetings are open to the public and free.
Membership and care information is available at our meetings and on our web site.
Contributors to this care sheet include:
Copyright (c) 2004 Gulf Coast Turtle and Tortoise Society Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".